Lichbane
by gambit1998.4
Summary: a young boy in 1840's meets Colt, who teaches him to hunt, but Colt has bigger plans, to stop a Lich that plans to raise an undead army in the future. things hit a snag when Azazel gets involved and things go in an odd direction.
1. Chapter 1

Prologue

A scratchy voice called down from a dark throne,"I asked that you find the orb, why have you failed me?"

"It's.. it's…. not that simple my liege, it's been lost since just after it was made, and there's no conceivable way to track it!" The scrawny imp in tattered robes said from the foot of the throne.

"How am I supposed to raise an army without it?"

A shadowy figure entered the room. "Maybe with your winning personality," said the figure.

"This is no time for jokes Azazel! The spell is nearly complete and we need the orb!" yelled the man on his throne.

Shadows crept out from the dark throne, crawling about the floor toward the imp. The shadows peeled off of the floor, turning into a churning black smoke. The smoke surrounded the imp and when the smoke cleared the imp was gone, leaving behind was a pile of smouldering ash.

"Now, now, Ruhlux. Take care of your toys. If you break them all of them, what will you have left?" chided the demon, "I'll put some other demons on the search, I doubt it'll be found soon though…"

Chapter 1:Odd Company

On the edge of a small town, not far from the city of Lawernce, Kansas, in a cottage on a hill, lived a lone boy. Not a young, destructive, naive boy, but an intelligent, thoughtful boy. Aged seven and ten years, he was already a gifted apprentice to a silversmith. His parents had passed while he was just an infant. His father at the hands of a raiding indian before he was born, and his mother in childbirth. His uncle Tomas raised him good and right, and when he was 13, Tom sent him to the silversmith, Jace, to learn his craft. A man passed through the shop one day, a man by the name of Samuel Colt, everyone knew Colt, but few knew what Colt did. He was a hunter.

"Jace! my old friend!" Samuel started, "… I need help with a project…"

"You stop right there Colt! I'm not helping you make another gun, last time I nearly blew off my own hand engraving it!" Jace yelled.

"It's not my fault you didn't check to see if it was loaded, anyway, it's not another gun. It's something much larger than anything before, something big is going down, not now, but maybe in a hundred or so years".

"So?" asked Jace.

"It's starting now, and while there's little we can do about that, we need to slow it down."

"What's all this about Colt?"

Samuel noticed the boy sweeping in the back, "Com'ere boy!"

"Yes, Mr. Colt?" the boy asked.

"Grab a chair and sit over here, or go home" Colt ordered.

The boy grabbed a chair and sat as directed, "what's your name, boy?"

"Abraham" he answered.

"And your last name? You got one, don't ya?" Colt insisted.

"...N…" Abe started

"He's a bastard Sam, he don't got one."

"I told you! I'm not a bastard! My parents died, my father didn't want to leave me!" Abe yelled. "My last name is Nathons, my uncle told me, he knew my dad!"

"Well Mr. Nathons, quite the fire in your belly! I could use a man like you in my line of work."

Abe confused, asked, "firearms?"

Looking to Jace, Colt asked, "He doesn't know the truth?"

"I hadn't told him yet, didn't want to", stated Jace

If Abraham was confused earlier, it was far more apparent, "What truth?!"

Jace started into the spiel, "Colt here is more than a firearms producer, he's the best damn hunter in the country, and not like those guys who go out with a rifle and bring back a buffalo, he hunts monsters..."

"I thought monsters weren't real" said Abe.

"Oh you'd be surprised by the kinds of things that do lurk in the dark" Colt interrupted.

"Nearly anything you've ever heard of and more" Jace continued, "So when something causes a commotion, it's Colt's job to find out if it's supernatural or not, then if it is, he fixes it".

"Sounds dangerous... And fun!" Said Abe.

Colt looked upset, "it's not a game kid, people die doing what I do, and once you start, you're in for life"


	2. Chapter 2: Swordplay

Chapter 2: Swordplay

For two months after their first meeting, Colt began to train Abraham to be a hunter, and though at first Jace refused to let him, a couple of drinks helped Colt persuade Jace to release Abe from his apprentice contract. Abe learned everything about hunting that Colt could teach him. Colt then sent Abe across the Pacific to Japan, where he would learn swordsmanship from an old friend of Colt's, Kaito Yukimara, a practitioner of the samurai art.

"I don't understand what fighting with bamboo does for me," Abraham began, "it's not a real sword, so how can it help?"

"If you want to learn, you'll not question your teacher," Kaito said, "Again!"

And with that they began to fight once more, swinging the rods of bamboo back and forth, and like the last 12 times, the second Abe thought he was winning, he found himself on the ground with a makeshift training sword pointed at his face.

"Do you understand why you don't do better?" asked Kaito.

"No, it's been two months, and while I know how to swing a stick, I not only don't know how to swing a real sword, but I can't even win when we both use the damn sticks!"

"Again!" Kaito commanded.

They got to their starting spaces and began again. Kaito took the first swing, sending his bamboo hurling toward Abe's head. Abe foresaw something like this and sidestepped and ducked, countering Kaito with a low sweep. kaito jumped over Abe's stick and back a bit.

"See, you are learning…." Kaito's words trailed off as he refocused on the american running towards him. As Abe went for another swing, Kaito quickly rolled under the slash, turning to make an attack of his own. Abe was not so quick, feeling the blow to his leg throw him off balance, he made the decision to turn his trip into a roll of his own. Back on his feet, he turned towards Kaito, who simply stood, waiting.

Abe walked forward, the air stirred with his excitement at his own progress, now visible with him lasting as long as he has. He swung at Kaito, and missed. Kaito took this advantage and nimbly twirled his bamboo, disarming Abe. With this Kaito swung to down his trainee, but was surprised when the boy took a daring roll around the other side of him, away from his recently disarmed sword.

"Where do you think you are going, boy?" asked Kaito

Abe ran to the side of the fighting area, looking for anything that could help him.

_What could I use to fight him? _He wondered, and just then he saw what could help. _It's a long shot, but I should try. _Abe still running, went to slide in the dirt, and using his hand, grabbed a pile of some. He then got up and ran back towards Kaito, who was chasing him. Almost at the last second of Kaito's swing toward Abe, Abe threw his dirt into Kaito's eyes, then sidestepped the swing. Then taking the distraction, he grabbed the sword from Kaito's hands and pointed it at his master.

Kaito, wiping the dirt from his eyes, "Very impressive Abraham, using your youthful speed to get away long enough to compose a distraction, and all this after being disarmed and nearly losing"

"Sorry about the dirt…" Abe appologised.

"Don't be, it's time to move on anyway, to your next lesson."

"And what is that?" Abe asked.

"Well a swordsman can't really fight without a sword," Kaito began, "So now you get to make one"

That afternoon Kaito taught Abe all the dynamics of the katana, how it worked and why, and most importantly, how to keep it in good condition after it's been made.

"Could a sword be made of multiple materials?" Abe asked the next morning.

"Possibly, but there's a whole lot of room for mistakes by doing that, why?" Kaito answered.

"I was thinking that when we make the sword for me, that it could be half iron, and half silver" the boy explained.

"Well it would be more functional for your new line of work that way, wouldn't it?"

"Lots more" Abe said.

"Then let's get to designing it" Kaito said as he brought out various scrolls, some on sword crafting, some previous designs, and one empty one. They worked for hours, trying to find a way to integrate the two metals without compromising the qualities the sword needed. They eventually settled on a design by Abe where the front of the blade itself (including the cutting edge) was silver, while the rest of the blade, as well as the inside was iron. This they concluded would take many hours to forge but would offer the most promise for a proper blade.

They got the materials together and set up the forge for the next day. And the next day, as expected, they ran into trouble melding the two metals, but quickly fixed that problem. After hours of pounding, heating, cooling, and reheating, the blade was complete. All that was left was to polish it and fit a handle to it. Then something unexpected happened, Kaito took the blade, and painted something onto it with a brush before shoving the blade into the forge once more shouting, "argentum, ferrum patiuntur et ignes!" and the blade burst into white flame and the coals disintegrated. After the blade was cooled in the water, it appeared to be polished and keen, without the need of ordinary cleaning and sharpening. Katakana in black at the base of the blade spelled out, "_From this blade of flame, made of steel and silver, monsters shall perish". _The blade seemed to shimmer with a crimson hue.

"As some things need to burn to die, I saw it fit to help you out with that" explained Kaito, "All you need do is say '_Kurenai' _and the blade will bathe itself in flame, but it's not complete, we must visit a friend of mine to finish it".

"I thought only witches could do magic like that…" started Abe

"Not many remember the Old Ways, and only black magic is restricted to those who sell their souls, but this, this was magic pure of darkness…." Kaito trailed off.

They left the swordmasters house and walked to a nearby temple where a wrinkled old man greeted them at the entrance, "hello again Kaito, you don't happen to be here to pray do you? While I'd be glad, it's not like you."

"Sorry Cal, not today, we need you to give this blade a shinto blessing" Kaito explained.

"I'd be glad to, give me a moment to prepare…"

With his new training under his belt, and a new sword strapped to it, Abraham caught a ship going back to the U.S. where he would meet Colt in California to begin a new hunt. This hunt being a unique one, Abe's new multi-tool of a weapon will come in great use.


End file.
